Woods, who tees off at 2:20 p.m. Thursday alongside U.S. Open winner Martin Kaymer, is playing in just his third tournament this season since recovering from microdiscectomy back surgery to repair a pinched nerve, so expectations are not high.

Before James made his intentions clear, many in the world questioned why on Earth he would come back to Northeast Ohio.

The first question presented Wednesday to Woods asked him to comment on a recent story in which a writer dismissed Akron and Firestone's historic South Course as an uninspired WSG site.

Woods just smiled.

"I like this place,'' he said. "It would be nice if I could play a Major here.''

While he didn't exactly defend the WGC being at Firestone, he did explain why the course matters.

"This golf course is just amazing,'' said Woods. "It's very forward. It's right in front of you. And there are some years where it's just impossible to hit these fairways. They're so hard and fast and other years, everything plugs and it plays long, and you've got to make a bunch of birdies.

"But I think this venue – it just goes to show you that you don't need an elephant burial grounds out there to make a golf course fair, difficult and enjoyable.''

Woods certainly enjoyed himself at Firestone last year, shooting a second-round 61 and cruising to a seven-shot victory over Keegan Bradley.

"That was a pretty nice day,'' Woods said. "I got off to a great start, had a nice little run there in the middle part of the round, and had a chance to shoot 59 with about three holes to go. I had my opportunities.

"I made a hell of a par on the last hole. I putted from off the back edge of the green. So it was a nice way to basically get myself into the weekend. I really played well on the weekend as well.

"To try and win the ninth this week is – there's no secret formula. It's just go out and play well. This golf course is right in front of you. There's no hidden secrets out here.''

Returning to that form seemed impossible when he was sidelined this spring, not that anyone is expecting Woods to throw down that kind of round this week, either.

"It's way more debilitating than I thought,'' he said of his injury. "The people that I've talked to that have had the same procedure, how long it takes them to come back. And most of the people I talked to who have had the procedure have no idea how I'm even back here playing. They just can't understand that.''

Woods said in a half-joking manner the surgery actually accomplished something he had been trying to do anyway – shorten his backswing.

"I can't turn that far,'' he said. "We've been trying to shorten it up over the years. I think a perfect way to do it is just have back surgery. All those geniuses out there, there you go.''

Woods has played just six rounds since returning. He missed the cut at the Quicken Loans National at Congressional in June, and he was six-over at the British Open two weeks ago. He lamented his mistakes at the Open, while reminding folks the comeback is just being back on the course.

"Congressional was a high point,'' he said. "Even though I missed the cut miserably, but the fact I was back playing again after what I'd just been through was big for me.

"I made my share of mistakes (at the British Open). I had, I believe, one triple and two doubles and a couple of three-putts in there. I made plenty of birdies and also missed a ton of opportunities. But I also made some just careless mistakes.''

Woods has been around long enough that this isn't his first comeback. A knee injury and well-publicized, personal scandals knocked his career trajectory off enough that many doubt that he will pass Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 Majors. Woods has 14.

"These 14 weren't easy,'' he said. "I've passed a lot of people on the way to get to this point. You look at the who's who and the history of the game and the fact there's only one person ahead of me, it's not too bad.''

Woods, 38, won five events in 2013, and is one year out since his last victory, the second-longest victory drought of his career. Can he reinvent his career and add to his legacy once again in Akron? He knows James is seeking to do just that, so naturally, the subject came up Wednesday.

"I was probably as surprised as anybody when that all went down,'' Woods said of James' announcement. "We were overseas when that all was happening, I believe. But you could see the cards kind of falling into place, with the three of them not re-signing, all opting out at the same time, and nobody was doing anything. Everyone's waiting for his decision.

"For him to have grown up here and obviously play here for his first seven years, I can see where that could be an attraction to come back. He already accomplished what he wanted to accomplish. He set out to win championships, and he did. Four straight final appearances is awfully impressive. He won two, but people forget he went to all four.

"That, to me, is probably as admirable of the energy level to be able to do that. As well as playing in the Olympics, all the qualifiers, he really hasn't had much of a break. I can understand him coming back here and wanting to be at home and wanting to do it in front of the home fans.

''Cleveland hasn't, unfortunately, won championships in a very long time, and it would be pretty huge if he was able to do it.''

It would be huge for Woods, too, if he were to win his 80th career tournament this weekend while he and James share, among other things, the same area code for a few days.

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